Menu

The Beginning

Six years ago my journey truly began. It all started with wondering what would happen to my cat, Cadence, should anything happen to me (I was ending my marriage). She has behavioral/aggression issues, which makes it difficult for her to be around strangers (or any of my family members for that matter); she really only trusts me. The thought of her ending up in a shelter, scared and lashing out, and probably being euthanized, got me wondering about others. Although taking in another fur baby wasn’t an option, I started thinking about the multitude of other ways I could help. And it started with the animals we use for food and other purposes. I started seeking behind the scenes footage of factory and fur farms. Circuses, testing, and other ways we use animals came next. Each and every video caused me such pain. Seeing how humans treat animals, here and across the globe, got me more motivated to do more. My diet, however, didn’t change overnight. It was two years later when the final connection was made and I chose to go vegan…overnight (not really recommended).

It was at this same time I started thinking about what I chose to surround myself with. The possessions, clothes, mementos, and furniture was weighing me down. I slowly began purging-things I knew didn’t work for me, clothes that no longer fit or that I didn’t like anymore. Clothes, furniture, trinkets, etcetera, and whatever was easy was going. Fast forward to today and I’m finally working on ridding my photos and cards; things I never thought possible to “get rid of.” However keeping all those memories in boxes, how could I say they were bringing me joy?

I’m not a huge fan of labels, but for the sake of this blog, spreading this information, and raising awareness, I would say that I am loving living as a minimalist vegan. Although getting here has taken a while (and some hard work for those of you who know me!), I’m happy I’ve gone about my journey this way because I can say with certainty that I’ve done everything when I was ready. I’ve found that is key when making any kind of life/lifestyle change–it must be done when each individual is ready. Otherwise old habits rear their ugly heads.

I hope you’re ready to join me on this journey of learning to live a life of simplicity and doing it all in a cruelty-free way.